Porthmellon Business Planning To Expand Warehouse

At a time when several St Mary’s business owners want to covert their premises to accommodation, one company is looking to expand its commercial space.

Island builder Mark Wright has submitted plans to improve his existing Scillonia Building Supplies property on Porthmellon and construct a new storage facility at the side.

Mark says over the past year that he has owned the business, he’s found that many goods get sold out quickly but can take weeks to be restocked because of problems transporting materials down to Penzance.

He says a storage area would allow larger quantities to be made available, in addition to those on display in the shop.

Mark says just one large order from an off-island recently almost exhausted his entire wood supply. If plans are approved, capacity will almost double.

He’s taken inspiration from the new Porthmellon Innovation Centre, built by St Mary’s company PC Green, which was constructed by stripping back the old wholesalers building to its metal frame and reconstructing with timber cladding, metal and glass.

He wants to remove the old, leaking concrete and asbestos roof in the main shop area and replace it with a new insulated metal version. It would also be raised by about a metre to improve the interior layout.

Mark feels the new appearance and additional storage area would blend in well with the nearby Innovation Centre and improve the overall look of the Business Park.

And he says the addition of a ground floor toilet, which could be used by both customers and members of the public, will be an additional benefit.